Consumers today face a dizzying array of choices when in the market to purchase products or services. In some cases, a consumer may know exactly what he or she wants in advance when purchasing a product or service, but in other cases the consumer may have little knowledge of a given product or service subject area. In these cases, the consumer may wish to seek outside advice regarding potential products or services, such that he or she may make a wise purchasing decision. Frequently though, the consumer may not wish to conduct a lengthy research exercise in preparation for purchasing the product or service, as time is a valuable commodity and extensive research prior to purchasing can be tedious and may forestall acquisition of the product or service.
Historically, consumers have sought outside assistance with purchasing decisions in a number of ways. Word-of-mouth referrals have been and continue to be used. Magazines or newspapers that compare various products or services in a “shootout” format may discuss strengths and weaknesses of the products or services, and may pick a winning product or service deemed to be the best value or of the highest quality.
One way of compiling information and opinions concerning products and services is to collect user rankings of a product or service, compile the rankings, and present the rankings for comparison purposes to aid potential purchasers in their purchasing decisions. Examples of products or services that may be ranked to aid in future purchasing decisions might include: food quality, service and ambiance associated with a restaurant experience, level of enjoyment associated with viewing a particular movie, perhaps at a particular theater, a haircut or salon treatment, or a hamburger from a fast food restaurant. Rankings may be collected in a variety of ways. A user may rank a product or service by filling out a paper survey by hand and mailing the survey or ranking to a survey compiler. Alternatively, the user may receive a phone call requesting a ranking of the purchasing experience or of a purchased product/service some time after making the purchase, such as the following day or several days later, from a marketing group associated with the product or service.
A recent advance in the area of product and service information collection and presentation permits a user to rank a product or service online using a personal computer. After purchasing a product or service at a traditional retail store, for example, the user might drive home, connect to the Internet using a personal computer, access a ranking website, search, locate and select the relevant product or service, and enter a ranking or opinion regarding their experience in purchasing or using the product or service. However, even if a user has strong feelings concerning a product or service purchase immediately following the purchase and would like to enter a ranking of the experience, the user may forget to enter the ranking at the later time as other of life's demands vie for the user's attention and as memories of the experience degrade with the passage of time. Also, the user may later lack the time required to complete the ranking, or may consider logging on to the Internet and finding the ranking site and entering the ranking too inconvenient to warrant the effort.